Conveyer



L. V. FRALEY.

CONVEYER. APPLICATION FILED MAY I. 1919.

41,366,786). Patented Jam.l 25, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

KEY I A .5 6 'E E 6 L. V. FRALEY. lcowvvfn. APPLICATION FILED MAY l.i919. 1,366,780. v Patented Jan. 25,1921.

2 SHEVETLSHEET 2.

\ kind of commodity and 'ployed to convey and bags of flour are toUNITED STATES 'v PATENT OFFICE.

LAWRENCE V. FRALEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. ASSIGNOR TO BROWN PORTABLECONVEYING MACHINERY COMPANY, OE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

CONVEYER.

Patented J an. 25, 1921.

Application fied'May 1, 1919. Serial No. 294,012.

To all 'whom it may concern Be it known that I, LAWRENCE V. FRALEY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county otCoeli and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Conveyors, of which the following is a full, clear,concise, and eX- act description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this speciiication.

My yinvention relates to conveying machinery and particularly to thecarriage or moving web for the same.

l/Vhere the conveying machine is en1- or transport only one kind ofpackage or commodity the problem is relatively simple as the carriage orweb can be devised to lit the particular requirements to a nicety. Itmixed commodities are to be conveyed the problem is diiiicult. Forinstance,` assume that barrels of flour be conveyed by the same machine.If a iiat carriage or` apron be provided the barrels wouldroll ofi' andif a drop axle carriage be provided the bags would 'tend to fall downbetween the axles.

My invention aims to provide a conveyor carriage suitable for thehandling o i mixed commodities V.individually or simultaneously.

I have observed that in handling commodities, one man, or a gang of menwork ing together, cannot load the commodities lmuch faster than onebarrel length per thirty seconds. Infact, if two separate men or gangsof men alternatedV in loading the conveyer carriage the conveyer couldeasily take care of such loading.

My invention aims toV take advantage of this ability of the conveyor tocarry faster than loading can be accomplished.

I make one portion of the carriage of such a character as to be adaptedto handle one another portion of the carriage adapted to handle adifferent kind` etc., all operating in tandem or alternating.

Thus, for instance, if bags and barrels are to be handled by the samemachine, I em- 5-5 of Fig. l;

ploy a carriage comprising a drop axle section suitable for handlingbarrels and an apron section suitable for `handling bags, these sectionsalternating throughout the length oi the carriage. Thus two-classes ofcommodities may, be properly. handled either separately orsimultaneously. For simultaneous handling two gangs of loaders mayalternately load barrels and' bags, the run ning of the carriage beingsynchronized with the working of the gangs so that a proper sectionpresents itself at the time that the yparticular commodity is loaded. Tothis end the speed of the carriage is synchronized with the movements ofthe gang or gangs of loaders so Vthat when a commodity is in lpositionto be loadedV the proper carriage section presents itself. The

- same is true whether onlyone commodity is and operating my inventionI' shall now describe the same in connection with the accompanyingdrawings. y n

Figure l is a plan view of a portion of a conveyer and carriageembodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 'of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a view similar toFig. 1 showing a modilied form of device,thisview being taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4; i

Figfi is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a cross section taken on the line Fig. 6 is an enlarged detailview of the end of an axle and a roller thereor; and

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of one o the strutsshown in Fig. 2.

The conveyor armr upon which the cara riage -runs is preferably formedof longitudinal angle bars l, 2,3 and 4 (see Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 5)connected together at the sides by suitable straps of bar iron 5 formedin .the shape of a lattice work as shownin Figf2. The upper and lowerangle bars on each side are also connected by struts shown more clearlyin Figs. 2 and 7. These struts have projecting lugs or studs 7 extendinginwardly; these studs or lugs being connected together by means oi'.Eangle bars 8 as shown in Figs. 2 and 7.

A sheet metal floor or bottom 10 is mounted upon the transverse angles 8and is secured to the horizontal flanges of the same to Yform a smoothcontinuous bottom Vtor the 'conveyer arm. Spacing blocks or strips 11*Figs 1 and 2 the carriage 12 comprises two types of sections,naniely'the apron section 16 and the drop axle section 17. VThe apronsection comprises a series of straight square shafts .18 having rollers19 upon the ends thereof, these rollers running in the tracks formed bythe angle bars 1, 2, 3 and .4. The axles 18 are connected to the chains13 and 14, `the kchains having suitable wing links for making suchattachments, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2, and F ig. 5. Between theaxles 18 are placed the apron slats 20, these slats being also mountedupon suitable links of the chains 13 and Certain ones orn the slats asshown by reference numerals 2i and 22l in Fig. 1, are provided withangle iron cleatsfor preventing the slippage of articles placed upon theapron. These cleats are preferably formed of bars of angle iron having ahorizontal leg fitting flat against the top surface ofthe slats and avertical leg projecting upward and forming van abutting surface forpreventino the slippage of an article on the apron. llreferably theVsection which is formed of the slats, namely the apron section, has twooi vthese cleats, one at the end of the apron section and g one at themiddle thereof, so that the apron lrolls and the l section.

v stantially 2d section in reality faces thereupon. The drop axlesection 17 comprises a series of drop axles 23 which are formed toprovide concaved seats or sockets particularly adapted to convey sucharticlesl as barrels, drums, like which are convex and which would tendto roll oli" of the iat apron ln practice l have found it convenient tomake the width of the apron subwith approximately 28% beprovides twoloading surtween the edges of the angle bars 1 and 2 with each section,namely the apron section and the drop axle section being made of alength of about `5 ft. With these proportions the drop axles are spacedabout 10 apart., The abovevdimensions are merely illustrative of theinvention and are not intended as limiting in any manner.

The drop ,axles are formedof a central or drop portion24= joinedV bydiagonalportions connected slats.

`mixed Vcommodities lare incasso 25 to the straight portions 26. Thestraight portions have at their ends the rollers 19, one of whichrollers is shown in enlarged cross section in Fig. 6. 'The linlisY ofthe chains 13 and 14h are connected to the straight portions 28. v

l have shown a modiied form of apron section in Figs. 8 and il. ln thisform the drop'axle section is the same as that illustrated in Figs. 1and 2. rlhe apron section 27 dil'lers in that the individual apron slats28 are provided with gudgeons 29 at the ends thereof, these gudgeonshaving sockets or saddle portions for receiving the ends oit the slatsand havingA axle portions for mounting the rollers 30. The slats andgudgeons are secured together upon the chainsl and 14 by suitable rivetsas disclosed'in my copending application, Serial Number 290,962 tiledApril 18, 1919. The particular slats 31 and 32 which are placed at theend and in the center ot' the apron section respectively are providedwith angle iron cleats 33 for preventing slippage of the commoditiesupon the apron. These particular slats 31 and 32 are provided withgudgeons having double axles for preventing tilting of the slats by suchbrackets. For this purpose the conveyer arm is provided with the topangle bars 85 and 36 which hold theV double rollers in a channel toprevent tilting of the rEhe particular features of this form of apronare disclosed in my above mentioned co-.pending application and do notform a part of the present invention.

In operation the articles to be loaded are deposited upon the carriageat a given rate.

The conveyor carriage is runat such a speed o as to bring the propersections simultaneously under the point ofcloading. Thus for instance,ii" bags are being loaded upon the conveyer, the bags are deposited Aatintervals which coincide with the appearance of the apronsection. On thecontrary if barrels, drums or cylinders are being conveyed. they areloaded at periodscoinciding withV the appearance of the drop axlesections. If f simultaneously handled, each commodityV is loaded at a Yperiod coinciding with the the appearance of' the appropriate carriersection.

In order to bring about synchronism between the periodical loading andthe appearance oi' the appropriate carriage section I provide means forcontrolling the speed of the carriage. In the present instance thedriving motor 38 is suitably controlled by the regulator 89 to bringabout the desired synchronism.

lt is not intended that the invention be limited to the precise forms ofcarriage shown and described, as the invention 1s Ybroader than theparticular embodiments which havebeen shown.

. y Instead of emplgying the particular drop axle section, any

other form suitable for conveying convex ohjects such as drums, barrels,rolls and the like might be provided.

ln a similar manner any other torni of apron might be provided, orinstead of a flat surface, any other suitable surface niay he provided,depending upon the type of commodity to he conveyed.

l claim:

l. In combination, a conveyer arm and a carriage traveling on said arrn,said carriage comprising a drop axle section and an apron section intandem.

2. ln combination, a conveyer arm and a carriage traveling on said arin,said carriage comprising a pair oi continuous chains, means connected tosaid chains for providing a concave seat :tor a commodity and alternatemeans secured to said chains providing a relatively iat surface for acornmodity of a different class.

3. In combination, a conveyer arm having sprockets at the ends thereof,chains trained over said sprockets, a plurality or drop axles secured tosaid chains, said axles having straight portions adjacent their endsattached to said chains, rollers on said axles riding on the arm, aplurality of slats secured to said chains Jor providing a relativelyiiat conveyer surface and means for driving said chains at apredetermined speed.

4. In combination, a conveyer arm having a plurality oi angle harsforming tracks, a carriage having axles, said axles having rollersruiming upon said tracks, said angle bars being connected together inpairs at each side by diagonal connections, struts connected betweensaid angles, said. struts having integral ings and angle hars secured attheir ends to said lugs connecting the struts to hold said pairs ofangles in proper spaced relation and a sheet metal floor supported onsaid latter angle bars.

5. In combination, a conveyer arm and a carriage traveling on said arm,said carriage .comprising a drop axle section and an apron section,means for driving said carriage at a speed suitable for loading.

6. In combination, a conveyer arrn and a carriage traveling on said arm,said carriage comprising an apron section and a drop axle section, meanstor driving said carriage, and means for varying the speed ot saiddriving means.

7 In combination, a conveyer arm, a carriage traveling on said armhaving a plurality of sections Jfor receiving different co1n modities,and means for varying the'speed oit' the carriage to synchronouslypresent the appropriate carriage surface to receive the commodities inorder,

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 29 day of April,A, D. 1919.

LAWRENCE V. FRALEY.

